Top 10 international routes from Delhi in 2015

Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is the busiest airports in India in terms of passenger traffic. In 2015, it had handled total 45.98 million passengers and out of which 13.88 million passengers used international flights to and from Delhi. As per the DGCA data for international city-pair passengers released in mid February, the following is the list of top 10 busiest international route from Delhi Airport with annual passengers data on respective routes. Interestingly, 5 out of top 10 routes are eastward from Delhi while the other 5 is in westward direction. Three Gulf/West Asian airports, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are featured in the top 10 list while only two long-haul European destinations London and Frankfurt are in the list. At 816 km from Delhi, Kathmandu is the nearest destination among the top 10 while Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are the three Southeast Asian destinations in the top 10 list. Hong Kong is the only East Asian destination to be featured in the list.

If we look at the seasonal variation of the passengers traffic in the top 4 routes from Delhi to Dubai, London, Bangkok and Singapore, while there is a marked drop in passenger numbers in Delhi-Dubai route in Q3 CY2015 the trend is just reverse in Delhi-London route where the Q3 passenger numbers are indeed higher than Q2 and Q4 CY2015; Passenger numbers remained steady on Delhi-Bangkok route but during the last quarter it recorded a growth in traffic over the last three quarters. On Delhi-Singapore route, the trend is similar to Delhi-Dubai route where the passenger numbers are down in Q3 CY2015; But while Delhi-Dubai route recorded its peak in Q4 CY2015, Delhi-Singapore passenger traffic peaked during Q1 CY2015; While passenger numbers shown improvement in Q4 from the lowest level in Q3 but could not match or cross the Q1 peak passenger figures on Delhi-Singapore route.

Dubai: Dubai International Airport is the busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 17,00,264 passengers (two-way) on the sector in 2015. Currently six different airline operate 82 weekly frequencies on the 2,185 km Delhi-Dubai route and it will go up to 96 in the summer 2016 when another airline will start flying on the route. Emirates is the largest carrier with 4 daily Boeing 777 service to Delhi while the other Dubai based carrier flydubai operates 5 weekly Boeing 737 service. From the Indian side, Air India flies daily Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service while SpiceJet serve daily with Boeing 737. While IndiGo has recently increased its frequency to 3 daily Airbus A320 service from early February 2016, Jet Airways will increase its frequency to 3 daily Boeing 737 service from 27 March 2016; Air India Express is scheduled to start operating on Delhi-Dubai route from 10 May 2016;

London: Heathrow Airport is the second busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 9,33,150 passengers on the sector in 2015. Total four carriers operate 49 weekly frequencies on the 6.737 km Delhi-London route. While Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic each fly daily 1 flight British Airways flies double daily flight to Delhi. Air India which used to fly double daily till late October 2015, has increased its frequency on Delhi-London route to 3 from early November 2015; Interestingly from 27 March 2016, 5 out of 7 daily flights will be operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. While Virgin Atlantic and British Airways already flies one each 787-9 flight daily to Delhi, Air India will convert all its 3 daily flights to Boeing 787 Dreamliner, making it Air India's first all 787 route from Delhi (where it flies more than once a day).

Bangkok: Suvarnabhumi Airport is the third busiest international destination and busiest in the East from Delhi Airport with 7,00,121 passengers on the sector in 2015. Three airlines operate 32 weekly frequencies on the 2,953 km Delhi-Bangkok route and it will go up to 40 in the summer schedule. Air India operates daily Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service on the route. While Jet Airways is scheduled to double its capacity from daily to double daily Boeing 737 service, Thai Airways too is marginally increasing its capacity from 18 weekly to 19 weekly frequencies. Thai operates a mix of Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Airbus A330 service to Delhi.

Singapore: Changi Airport is the fourth busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 6,57,569 passengers on the sector in 2015. Three airlines operate 28 weekly frequencies on the 4,165 km Delhi-Singapore route. Singapore Airlines operates double daily flights to Delhi with a combination of World's largest passenger jet Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 series. While Air India operates daily Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service, Jet Airways also flies daily flight on the route where it has upgauged its capacity from Boeing 737 to Airbus A330 in late 2015;

Kathmandu: Tribhuvan International Airport is the fifth busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 6,23,447 passengers on the sector in 2015; It is also the nearest international destination from Delhi among the top 10. Currently total five carriers operate 47 weekly frequencies on the 816 km Delhi-Kathmandu route. While Air India and Jet Airways operate double daily flights on their respective Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 series aircraft, IndiGo operates daily Airbus A320 service. From the Nepalese side, Nepal Airline operates 10 weekly Airbus A320 service to Delhi. The fifth one is Bhutan Airlines, who has fifth freedom rights and operates 2 weekly Airbus A319 service on Paro-Kathmandu-Delhi route.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong International Airport is the sixth busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 5,58,273 passenger on the sector in 2015; Three airlines operate 28 weekly frequencies on the 3,752 km Delhi-Hong Kong route. While Air India operates daily Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service, Jet Airways operates daily Airbus A330 service on the route. Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific flies double daily Airbus A330 service to Delhi.

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi International Airport is the seventh busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 5,31,203 passengers on the sector in 2015; Three carriers operate 31 weekly frequencies on the 2,280 km Delhi-Abu Dhabi route. While Air India flies 3 weekly Airbus A319 service, Jet Airways operates daily Boeing 737 service on the route. Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways operates 3 daily service to Delhi with a combination of Boeing 777 and Airbus A321 aircraft.

Doha: Hamad International Airport is the eighth busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 4,57,061 passengers on the sector in 2015; Two airlines operate 21 weekly frequencies on the 2,557 km Delhi-Doha route. While Jet Airways flies daily Boeing 737 service to Doha, Qatar Airways operates double daily Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service on the route.

Frankfurt: Frankfurt International Airport is the ninth busiest international destination from Delhi Airport with 4,20,831 passengers on the sector in 2015. Two carriers fly 14 weekly frequencies on the 6,129 km Delhi-Frankfurt route. Frankfurt is the only sector among the top 10 where there are just 2 single daily service by two airlines. While Air India operates daily Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service, Lufthansa flies-in world largest passenger jet Airbus A380 on Delhi-Frankfurt route.

Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the tenth busiest international destinations from Delhi Airport with 3,61,349 passengers on the sector in 2015; Three airlines operate 21 weekly frequencies on the 3,881 km Delhi-Kuala Lumpur route. No Indian carrier flies on the route, while Malaysian flag carrier Malaysia Airlines operates daily Airbus A330 service which it had reduced to half from double daily service in mid-2015, low-cost carrier Malindo Air operates 10 weekly Boeing 737 service. In early February 2016, Malaysian medium to long-haul low-cost carrier AirAsia X has resumed 4 weekly Airbus A330 service to Delhi.